Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Nine patents for improvements to wire fencing were granted by the U.S. Patent Office to American inventors, beginning with Michael Kelly in November 1868 and ending with Joseph Glidden Nov. 24, 1874, U.S. Pat. No. 157,124 for barbed wire. Barbed wire not only simplified the work of the rancher and farmer, but it significantly affected political social, and economic practices.
Since the invention of barbed wire, there has been a need for an apparatus to handle the unrolling of the wire; as can be seen by the following references to U.S. patents. Wire unreeling devices of the general type described below are well known in the art. When laying a string of wire from a spool, such as barbed wire for a fence line, the ground surface, which must be traversed, is often rough and uneven and the barbed wire itself is often difficult to handle because of its inherently hazardous nature and tendency to uncoil or backlash. Prior art devices, which are intended to overcome the foregoing difficulties, tend to become mechanically complex and somewhat unwieldy and difficult to manipulate.
There are numerous dispensers designed to aid in uncoiling and unrolling spooled and rolled materials. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,663 (242/588.2) issued to Slater on Jun. 24, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 424,774 (D34/26) issued to Zarley on May 9, 2000 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,808 (242/598.3) issued to Klumpjan on Aug. 2, 1994.
Other typical patents are:
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 328,378 (D34/24) issued to Hargrove on Jul. 28, 1992.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,793 (242/96) issued to Walker on Jul. 6, 1976.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,733 (242/94) issued to Roederer on Jun. 28, 1974.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,807 (242/94) issued to Fortson on Aug. 01, 1972.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,341,149 (242/94) issued to Graham on Sep. 12, 1967.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,100,607 (242/86.64) issued to Wiggins on Aug. 13, 1963.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,667 (242/94) issued to Browne on Nov. 21, 1961.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,140,676 (242/94) issued to Hohner on Dec. 20, 1938.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,089,335 (140/92.2) issued to Brown on Aug. 10, 1937.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,067,765 (242/96) issued to Juranic on Jan. 12, 1937.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,029,953 (242/90) issued to Sutilef on Feb. 04, 1936.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,648,568 (242/391.1) issued to Stoffel on Nov. 08, 1927.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,341,484 (242/588.2) issued to Starratt on May 25, 1920.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,249,691 (242/588.2) issued to Tillman on Dec. 11, 1917.
U.S. Pat. No. 594,977 (242/391) issued to Williams on Dec. 07, 1897.
U.S. Pat. No. 589,490 (242/391) issued to Young on Sep. 07, 1897.
U.S. Pat. No. 467,499 (242/396.8) issued to Dulin on Jan. 26, 1892.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,663 Inventor: John E. Slater Issued: Jun. 24, 2000: a spooled barbwire dispenser discloses a swivel hook means for grasping a spool of wire being 360 degrees rotatable centrally mounted onto the underside of a rectangular shaped metal plate whereby the plate further has a handle for being grasped by the user with the handle being welded onto the top of the plate. This invention allows the swivel hook to be hooked onto the handle of a reel of wire such as barbed wire, and further allows the reel of wire to be unrolled so that the wire spool is maintained effectively in the horizontal plane as the spool is transported from one work location to the next.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 424,774 issued to Zarley on May 9, 2000 is an ornamental design for a portable wire dispensing reel for barbed wire with wheels and a tongue for mechanical pulling.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,808 issued to Klumpjan on Aug. 2, 1994 is a wire unreeling device supporting a spool of wire in one position to utilize the rims of the spool as wheels and in an inverted position to hold the spool above the ground in a freewheeling manner.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 328,378 issued to Hargrove on Jul. 28, 1992 is an ornamental design for a hand pull barbed wire dispenser mounted on wheels with an attached tongue for manual pulling.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,793 Inventor: David O. Walker Issued: Jul. 6, 1976 is a wire spool holder, specifically adapted for barbed wire and the like, includes freely rotatable spool engaging members and a freely rotatable holding or grasping member connected to the engaging members.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,733 issued to Roederer on Jun. 28, 1974 relates to maneuvering and handling devices and carriers for dual headed reels such as are employed for storing and dispensing barbed wire and has to do with a novelly constructed sectional or knockdown reel and an elongated supporting or handling frame which functions to mount the reel for roll-along use or, alternatively, for supported use on a farming machine.
U.S. Pat No. 3,680,807 issued to Fortson on Aug. 01, 1972xe2x80x94a roller assembly for rolling over the ground either by hand or by being pulled by a powered vehicle and includes opposite end large diameter wheel portions and a diametrically reduced center portion rotatable with the wheel portions and upon which a spool of wire is disposed for rotation with and unwinding from the reduced center portion of the roller assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,341,149 issued to Graham on Sep. 12, 1967 is characterized by an elongated sled-like frame, which can be converted from a sled to a roll-along vehicle by attaching wheels to brackets provided for on the sled. The frame can be dragged along behind a tractor on the wheels or removing the wheels and using the frame as a push-pull type sled.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,100,607 issued to Wiggins on Aug. 13, 1963 discloses a barbed wire reel holder including a pair of wheels each having an opening there through, a continuous axle extending through the opening in each of the wheels for placing varying widths of rolls of wire.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,667 issued to Browne on Nov. 21, 1961 discloses a device for aiding in the unreeling of wire on a spool comprising a generally u-shaped frame having an elongated handle extending from the u-shaped frame, a transverse hollow member at the free end of the handle forming hand grips and a pair of removable circular wheels fixedly attached to the axle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,140,676 issued to Hohner on Dec. 20, 1938 is a wire-handling device comprising a substantially u-shaped frame, including a handle and parallel legs on the handle, a transverse axle having one end connected to the free end of one of the legs adapted for insertion through a spool of wire.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,089,335 Inventor: G. L. Brown Issued: Aug. 10, 1937xe2x80x94this United States Patent discloses a method for spooling barbed wire wherein all of the barbs project inwardly and for carrying purposes there is provided a stirrup or carrying frame the cross piece between the two arms serving as a handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,067,765 Inventor: Walter Juranic Issued; Jan. 12, 1937xe2x80x94this United States Patent discloses a reel holding device which has the reel of material rotatable suspended so as to facilitate the discharge or unreeling of the material and when the device is not in use it may be collapsed to a compact form to occupy a minimum of space in storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,029,953 issued to Sutilef on Feb. 04, 1936 discloses a wire carrying reel comprising a hauling frame comprising a rod or tube which is bent into a u-shape producing a pair of shafts for pulling or pushing the implement using the wheels mounted in the rear end of the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,648,568 issued to Stoffel on Nov. 08, 1927 relates to a winch structure upon which a spool containing barbed wire may be mounted and the rotation of the spool by rolling the structure along the ground will cause the barbed wire to be fed off the spool.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,341,484 Inventor: Harold E. Starratt Issued: May 25, 1920xe2x80x94this United States Patent discloses a single piece of resilient metal bent to form a grip member, a handle member having two straight portions adapted to lie parallel to each other, a pair of oppositely extending arms at the end of said handle portion, jaw members adjustably mounted on the ends of said arms, bearing members carried by said jaws members, means for securing the jaw members in their adjusted positions on the arms, and a keeper adapted to engage the portions of the handle member to draw the bearing members into a predetermined relation to each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,249,691 issued to Tillman on Dec. 11, 1917 is a reel for supporting barbed wire during the application of the wire to a fence; providing a reel, which may be readily carried by two workmen.
U.S. Pat. No. 594,977 issued to Williams on Dec. 07, 1897 is a wire unwinding device consisting of a u-shaped bail having one end terminated in the form of an eye, a side bar having one end adapted to loosely engage the eye, and the other end arranged to engage the opposite end of said bail.
U.S. Pat. No. 589,490 issued to Young on Sep. 07, 1897 discloses a device for distributing fence wire, two side bars having handles at one end and aligned bearings at opposite end allowing for the distributing of up to three rolls of wire at the same time.
U.S. Pat. No. 467,499 issued to Dulin on Jan. 26, 1892 discloses a fence wire reel and tightener consisting of a reel adapted to fit loosely on an axle with transporting wheels.
While these wire spool dispensers, described by the previously issued patents, may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a light weight apparatus, which can be used by one person to hold and carry a spool of wire, specifically barbed wire, and to dispense said wire while moving from one location to another over all types of terrain such as gullies, rocky ground, smooth ground, between and around trees, through vines, leaves, and other debris; while keeping the roll of wire, specifically barbed wire, from coming into contact with the person or any of the above mentioned encumbrances.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wire holder, carrier, and dispenser or unreeler, specifically a barbed wire holder, carrier, and dispenser or unreeler, having a handgrip or handle, which will allow for easy handling of spools of wire, specifically barbed wire, by one person.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for holding a spool or reel of wire, and means for engaging a spool or reel of wire, a method for unreeling the spool or reel of wire without the wire, specifically barbed wire, touching the ground which will prevent trash, leaves, vines, and other debris from becoming entangled in the roll of wire.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a means for the device to stand upright when not in use as well as to provide the means for the device to move easily over the ground surface thus eliminating the need for wheels to be attached to the device thereby preventing debris from becoming entangled in same.
Generally, spools of wire are heavy and cumbersome to handle. With respect to barbed wire, the dangers encountered with the installation and uses thereof are well known and self-evident. In manual installations, spools of barbed wire are unwound and erected by, usually, two or more persons. Because of the hazards encountered with the barbs, one person controls and guides the unreeling of the spool while the other person installs the wire. Such two person installations are expensive and time consuming.
The present invention provides a device, particularly adapted for barbed wire, which enables the holding, carrying, unreeling, and installation of barbed wire by one person, while avoiding the problems and dangers encountered with the installation and use of barbed wire.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a wire spool holder, carrier, and unreeler device particularly adapted for use with spools of barbed wire. The device hereof generally comprises a means for engaging a spool of wire, a means for grasping or holding the spool of wire, a means for carrying or transporting the spool of wire, and a means for unreeling the spool of wire.
The means for engaging the spool allows the spool of wire to rotate freely, permitting the unreeling of the wire from the spool. The means for engaging is connected to the means for grasping such that a spool of wire engaged therewith can be held away from the body of the user, thus avoiding the dangers encountered with the installation and use of barbed wire.
In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.